Samson Njuguna (Courtesy Sematime Media)

Fiery Ice

Steve Muturi
Aug 31, 2018 · 4 min read

Do not be fooled by the resolute look and scorching eyes, he is a happy soul… You know, one of those ‘you guy my guy’ kinda guy! You would never tell when his eyes dart far off into the horizon, perhaps secretly peering into the future, almost avoiding my prowling eyes. But when he laughs, he has one of those laughs, you know… those laughs that breed warmth and shred the tension into a relaxed atmosphere. You can almost see the smiley face emojis in the air around him! His laughter thunders, it actually booms in his chest reverberating around his almost conceit demeanor. Its a rasping mixture of a chortle and a guffaw that sees his warmth slowly melt the ice between us, slowly slaying the elephant in the room.

For the father of one, a son named Emmanuel, you will never haggle over which football team chases air trapped in a dead cow’s skin better. He lost a friend after an argument over a football match went south. (I see you Arsenal fans trying to erase the human race…). His focus and love for sport is now in basketball. On who is the better player, he concludes with finality, with a wry grin that is almost a snide, “Of course its The King! LeBron James!”It thus comes as no shocker that he is a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA.

In an earlier interaction he said he fancies a range rover sport, a Lexus or a Bentley. His car choice easily complements his sophistication, like a mortise to a tenon. His gaiety self and business aura epitomize a man cut for extortionist finer things in life… like a Bentley. In a wedding reception hall of a few hundreds the emcee wouldn’t need to announce for the owner of the Bentley to move it. You would easily tell he is ‘ule msee wa Bentley’. He has let me in into his world, I am in his mind and I can read him like a book, a happy book — a Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime” kind of book. Or so I thought…

When I ask what he thinks of Sematime and the new products we have rolled out, his new found smile quickly sublimates. He goes stone cold and has this look like your father would give you at the gate if you went home on suspension. The fire goes ice and in comes the serious face. Not secret service face serious exactly but seriously serious. This seriousness is more serious than the seriousness he had before his booming laughter.

Before I can adjust my mind to “what just happened?”, he slowly strokes the edge of his round beard with his index finger with eyes earthwards riveted at a business angle. Remember the ‘academic angle’? Now figure out the business angle. In a pensive and deep voice he says, “It is the next billion dollar company”. He is too deep for me to tell whether he used “billion dollars” colloquially or he is in his dead serious element. May be he meant “billion shillings” but who knows? At Sematime we work guided by the beauty of our dreams and a billion dollars is part of that dream.

“It is impressive that you are creating a one stop service and convenience solution provider and this kind of integration is deep and insightful,” he continues. Of our CEO he says, “he is a guy who shared insight and his passion is a mind opener”. I am hoping to get some praise too or at least learn how to bellow a laughter that deep but before I can ask “how…” he adjusts his lapel and slowly strokes necktie chest-downwards and says “Its a long drive to Kitui, visit me sometime so that we can talk more.” He stretches out his arm and gives me one of those firm handshakes and all I can do is stand there like a hobo who hoped for a hug. He picks up his laptop bag and in concert receives a phone call, “Hello beb…” Its his co-director on the other end… his wife.

As he strides away, I am left imbued in the paradox of his sophistication. How can a man be so brief yet so deep, so involved yet so dissociate, expressly pensive yet clearly entertaining? In conclusion I sigh, He must be a the fiery ice!

Samson Njuguna is Director of Amirex Computers Africa and a reseller for Sematime.

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Steve Muturi

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Sematime

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